Toy and other air guns are known to employ several types of cocking mechanisms for setting a plunger against the bias of a spring. Common mechanisms include levers below the barrel as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,426 (Lohr), levers above the barrel as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,692,555 (Lewis), rear slides as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,109 (D'Andrade), front slides as in U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,745 (Forsman et al) and simple knobs or grips directly carried on the plunger as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,580,356 (Martin).
In “break” styled guns, the stock or barrel may be hinged on the rest of the gun so that, with appropriate linkages to the plunger, the stock or barrel functions as a cocking lever. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,633,031 (Lefever), U.S. Pat. No. 1,761,993 (Schmeisser) and U.S. Pat. No. 1,477,770 (Roe).
A cocking lever is incorporated into the trigger of other guns, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,729 (Griffin) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,678 (Lohr). A cocking slide may likewise be incorporated in the trigger of a gun as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,385 (Thai).
In “sliding barrel” or “reciprocating barrel” styled guns, a barrel assembly may be mounted to the gun body for linear travel, whereby pushing or pulling the barrel sets a plunger against the bias of a spring. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. No. 178,327 (Quackenbush), U.S. Pat. No. 767,968 (Stanley), U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,954 (Smith) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,326 (Brown).
Holsters have been developed wherein the holster engages an actuating handle of a gun so that the gun may be cocked by pressing it downward in the holster. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,587 (Firmalino), U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,150 (Seldeen) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,481,209 (Bligh).